US Xbox 360 ban looms as Microsoft rejects settlement

SHARE THIS ARTICLE

Motorola demanding royalties from sales of console and Windows operating system

The Xbox 360 has edged closer to a devastating sales ban in the US after Microsoft rejected a settlement with Motorola over a patent dispute, CVG reports.

The legal dispute centres on Motorola Mobility’s patented technology, ActiveSync, which is used by Microsoft in numerous devices such as the Xbox 360 slim, Windows 7, internet explorer and Windows media player.

The mobile firm had asked for a 2.25 per cent royalty on Xbox 360 sales and $0.5 per copy of its Windows operating system.

Judge David Shaw said in April that Microsoft should be handed a cease-and-desist order of sales of the Xbox 360 Slim in the US unless a settlement could be reached.

If the ban goes through, the console giant could also be barred from selling its system in Germany, after a court in the country ruled in favour of a ban. The verdict however will not come into effect until the US lawsuit is concluded.

A Seattle judge recently claimed that attorney fees spent on the bitter and long-running dispute, which has been fought in courtrooms in Germany and the US, “could finance a small country”.